It is a well documented fact that Japan’s birth rate has been struggling for the quite a while now. The last few years have shown a slight uptick in the birth rate, but still not nearly enough to compensate for the growing elderly population. The birth rate hit its nadir in 2005, dropping to 1.24 children per woman for the nationwide average. A rate of 2.1 children per woman is considered zero growth, with the extra 0.1 accommodating for early deaths or people who do not go on to reproduce.